Pan-American pocket watches are Private Label pocket watches manufactured by the Seth Thomas Watch Company around 1898 that may have initially been intended as a commemorative for the Pan-American Exposition (World's Fair) of 1901, held in Buffalo, New York from May 1, 1901, through November 2, 1901. In 1898 when the Spanish-American War broke out, plans for the Pan-American Exposition were placed on hold. The 1898-1901 advertisements for the Seth Thomas Pan-American pocket watch movement made no mention of the Pan-American Exposition at all. The 18-size Pan-American pocket watch is a 7-jewel private label watch in Seth Thomas Model 10 (open-face orientation) and in Model 11 (hunting case orientation)... Continue Reading

by Jonathan Luysterborghs, 5 days ago

Before Fogg's patented safety pinion entered the public domain in 1882, new watch companies were compelled to prioritize the development of their own unique safety pinion design. When the Illinois Watch Company was organized in 1870 (as the Springfield Watch Company), the company was eager to find a novel safety pinion design to compete with the National Watch Company (Burt's Patent) and the American Watch Company (Fogg's Patent). With the success of the early safety pinions used by the two largest American watch factories, it was becoming critical feature in any watch movement with a going barrel. On September 10, 1872, John K... Continue Reading

by Nathan Moore, 1 week ago

The safety pinion was one of the most pivotal inventions to impact the America watch industry. The ability to protect the delicate watch parts from being damaged when a mainspring broke was critical to watch companies eager to offer better and more expensive watch movements on the market. Merritt Burt was the first to secure a patent for the safety pinion concept - a design that was implemented in movements from the National Watch Company from market introduction in 1867. Between 1864 and 1881, nearly a dozen safety pinion designs were patented with varying levels of realization in production... Continue Reading

by Nathan Moore, 2 weeks ago